Friday, August 29, 2008

Short-Run Historic: Nationals 11, Dodgers 2

The last time the Nationals swept the Dodgers, they were called the Expos and the year was 1998. Montreal did it in three games from August 4 through 6, the first one interesting and the other two not.

August 4: Chan Ho Park nursed a 4-0 shutout through seven innings, but imploded in the eighth, walking the bases loaded and then driving in a run on a bases-loaded walk to centerfielder Terry Jones. "That was stupid," Park said later. "I tried to be too perfect, and I wound up hurting the team. I should know better than that, but I wasn't thinking." A subsequent bullpen implosion by Scott Radinsky allowed all but one of his inherited baserunners to score, and the Dodgers lost 5-4 in extras on Chris Widger's RBI single. Vladimir and former Dodger Wilton Guerrero, playing on the same team for the first time that year, both drove in a run; the Dodgers had only days before, at the trade deadline, sent Wilton Guerrero, Ted Lilly, and minor leaguer Jonathan Tucker to Montreal in exchange for Carlos Perez, Mark Grudzielanek, and Hiram Bocachica.

August 5: Raul Mondesi left his second consecutive game with back stiffness, replaced by pinch-hitter Trenidad Hubbard in the third. Starter Darren Dreifort got off to a terrible start in the first, giving up two runs and ultimately losing the game on four runs, one unearned thanks to an error by Hubbard in the seventh. The Dodgers failed to do anything against rookie starter Carl Pavano, and only scratched out a single run against reliever Shayne Bennett, ultimately falling 5-1.

August 6: Gary Sheffield missed his third straight game following a suspension resulting from a brawl in Pittsburgh, and it really showed in this one. The Dodgers only got one baserunner to third, while the Expos mauled them to the tune of a 9-0 score, with starter Carlos Perez giving up seven runs; it was Perez's second start as a Dodger.

The 1998 Expos finished 65-97; the current generation of Nats will likely come close to that, maybe a bit more in the loss column, but the bottom line is that both Dodger teams are beleaguered despite their marquee players in the lineup. Manny Ramirez homered in the second to give Clayton Kershaw an instant 2-0 lead, but he imploded immediately for five runs in the bottom of the frame, capped by a three-run jack to Elijah Dukes. More misery awaited the Dodgers in late innings as the Nats cadged runs in every inning form the fifth on. About the only good thing to be said about the evening was that the Snakes were idle.
Additional fun factoids about the current losing streak:

The last time the Dodgers lost seven straight on the road was just last year, from September 9 through September 22 against the Giants, Rockies, and Diamondbacks.

The worst road losing streak in Los Angeles history was in the tumultuous 1992 season. From June 2 through June 21, the Dodgers lost every road game they played to Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Houston, eleven in all. Since that was also mostly one contiguous road trip, the Dodgers managed to rack up a 10-game losing streak in that span.

The epic-est fail in franchise history befell the dreadful 1944 Dodgers, the last stand for extended loserdom by a team that was about to be transformed by integration into one of the league's marquee franchises. For a solid month — June 16 through July 17 — the Dodgers failed to beat any opponents on the road, falling to Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Boston.

Also, I have to make mention here of the fact that Christian Guzman hit for the cycle. Christian Guzman!